3. Matters Arising from the MinutesThere had been no reply from Sian Lovett. Dorothy would contact Margaret Saunders who had not attended since her first meeting in November. Action: Dorothy

It was noted that there had been no reply from Victoria Atkin MP to the letter sent re the £5/head monies. Jeanette to write on behalf of the PPG to express its disappointment and to highlight its concern over the proposals to downgrade Boston Pilgrim Hospital. Action: Jeanette

The issue with the Surgery Fund had been resolved and this fund would now be managed by the Practice.

The Dementia Friends bus had come to Spilsby as planned. However, owing to the poor weather attendance had been low and only 6 people had turned up for the Dementia Friends training.

4. Good Neighbour Scheme UpdateChris noted that the Good Neighbour form had been published in the recent edition of The Grapevine. Jason mentioned that a committee had now been formed to administer this scheme (Father Peter Coates was on the committee) and he understood that they were actively seeking volunteers. The Surgery was still involved s Jeannie Bee was on the committee.

Jeanette and Chris both said that they had not heard from anyone despite having completed the forms in October last year.

5. Mobile Chemotherapy BusDorothy reported that ULHT was now saying that despite previous statements to the contrary, it does not have the resources to run this as a mobile unit. Jeanette said that she had seen the bus in use at Lincoln County Hospital outside the oncology unit when she had been at the hospital on 22 April. The committee continued to be concerned that local people had been fundraising for this on the understanding that it was a resource which would be used locally to prevent people having to travel to Lincoln for treatment, but this was not the case. It was agreed that a further FOI be sent to ULHT to ask how much the unit cost to run in Lincoln and what the money which the people of Langton had recently raised for it, had been used for as this money could be utilised to run 3 chemo beds out of Skegness hospital. Action: Jeanette

6. Maternity Provision at Boston Pilgrim HospitalStephanie and Jeanette had tried to attend a meeting at Boston Westside Surgery a few weeks ago where Gary James would attend to discuss the proposed downgrading of maternity provision at Boston Pilgrim Hospital under the LHAC. Unfortunately there had been a freak snowstorm and it had prevented our attendance at this meeting. However, concerns had been sent to Gary James as follows:

the distances patients would have to travel within our large county to access maternity provision or consultant

the risk that because of the distance to travel and the costs involved with that, that some higher-risk patients might choose not to and thereby put themselves further at risk

the capacities of other hospital’s maternity provision to cope with the extra patients who would have been seen at the Pilgrim

the de-localisation of rural services and the centralisation of services in Lincoln in one of the country’s largest counties and that one size doesn’t fit all

the plans for a rescue service on the East Coast for at risk patients in light of a perceived inability for EMAS to cope with any further traffic to Lincoln County Hospital. And this comes at a time when EMAS has been in the press for failing to achieve its current targets

It was agreed that a similar message to raise awareness of this issue would feature:

on the PPG board in the surgery

as part of the messages on the waiting room TV

in the Surgery waiting room as a paper petition

in the Spilsby library

in the next edition of The Grapevine

as an email to all virtual members

as a feature on the Surgery website

Jason would send everyone the link to the online petition which was already circulating and we would write to MP Victoria Atkin and MP Matt Warman to voice our concerns. Action: Jeanette and Maureen

7. Surgery UpdateJason reported as follows:
Dr Marchant had completed her rotation at the Surgery
Dr Kuttapan would remain at the Surgery until the end of September 2016
Georgie had been extended for another year and they were looking at a possible Practice-based model for the next 3 years
Healthwatch had asked to visit the Surgery on 13 July to speak to patients
There was a new nurse Carli Wright
The LECCG Patient Council meeting would be held at The Golf in Woodhall Spa on 22 June at 1pm

The problem of the lack of communication with consultants following treatment was discussed and the impact that this had on the GP practice. Jeanette said that the current waiting time at the end of April to see a specified GP was 6 weeks. Jason explained that this had been due to holidays and absence but that currently if a patient wanted to see any GP it was 2 weeks. This wait could be helped by patients cancelling appointments in advance rather than not turning up and being aware that simple coughs and colds, sore throats and minor illnesses do not require a GP appointment unless these issues are on-going. Jeanette to raise awareness of this with virtual members. Action: Jeanette

8. Consortium UpdateDorothy said that there was nothing to report as the meeting had been cancelled.

9. Any Other BusinessPharmacy Petition
It was mentioned that there was currently a petition in the Co-op Pharmacy to save pharmacies from closure. It was agreed that someone would look into this and let members know what it was all about.